American Revolution: The Stamp And Intolerable Act

The Stamp and Intolerable Acts were British laws and actions that contributed to the start of the American Revolution. After the French and Indian War, England taxed the American colonies to pay off the debt from the war. The colonists strongly felt that the taxation was unfair because the colonies did not have any representation in the British Parliament. When colonists realized how unfairly they were treated, they decided to boycott and protest British goods and laws.
The Stamp Act, which Patrick Henry considered to be “against the law”, taxed American colonists when the colonists did not have a voice in British Parliament (Document 1). In Document 1 Patrick Henry stated that “King George is a tyrant”, “he breaks laws”, and “is an enemy to his own people”. Patrick Henry wrote a speech in May 1765 to the Virginia House of Burgesses
because he was very upset that he and other American colonists were taxed when they didn’t have a say on other important matters that affected them. He felt that the colonists should have input on whether they were taxed for something. In addition, Henry felt that colonists should be given a reason for the tax. Patrick Henry said that “We can under law be taxed only by our own representatives”.
The colonists boycotted items like tea and paper in reaction to the British laws like the Intolerable Act. From document 2, “Imports from Britain 1764-1776”, imports from Britain took a dramatic drop when colonists decided British laws were unlawful and that they were being taxed so highly for tea in 1771. Document 2 shows that as soon as the Intolerable Act was introduced, imports from Britain declined from 2.5 million pounds a year to less than .5 million pounds a year. This change in imports shows how effective it was for colonists to boycott British goods.
In 1765 the Stamp Act was enacted shortly after the French and Indian War. In document 3, the chart shows items that were taxed and the amount of each tax. It shows that colonists had to pay extra for documents (summons, warrants, depositions, etc.), publications (newspapers, pamphlets and public notices), and land (warrants for surveying land, grants, and deeds). When this Stamp Act was put in place it enraged colonists, but England believed that these laws were just. When the Stamp Act was enacted in 1765, The British currency of one shilling equaled twelve pence, twenty shillings equaled one pound and one pound equaled two hundred and forty pence. These amounts that the British charged were expensive for colonists in that time period.
Paul Revere’s print in 1770 of The Boston Massacre shows “colonists protesting the increase in taxes and Quartering Act” (Document 6).
Although the print is famous, “Revere’s historic engraving is propaganda rather than historical fact”. Something that is a historical fact is that “Eleven people were shot and five died”. The Boston Massacre was made to be propaganda because Paul Revere believed it would call more people to “fight for independence”. This sparked a rebellion that convinced many colonists that Britain was treating them unfairly and that there needed to be a change.
To recapitulate, the cause of the American Revolution was due in part to the taxation by the British without the colonists having any representation in Parliament. Documents one and three focus on the Stamp Act, which demonstrates a forced British tax on the colonists. Documents two and six show the colonists’ reactions and responses to these taxes which led to the commencement of the American Revolution. An interesting idea to consider is whether the American Revolution would have ever happened if the unfair taxation on the colonists had never
occurred.